Dr. Laurie Bohannon has been named to the newly created position of Senior Veterinarian at Santa Anita, The Stronach Group announced Wednesday. Bohannon will serve at the direction of TSG Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. Dionne Benson going into Santa Anita's 23-day Autumn Meet which opens Sept. 27.
“In addition to Dr. Bohannon, we have a wealth of veterinary expertise working as part of our team here at Santa Anita,” said Benson. “Dr. Bohannon's day-to-day role will be to work with our Association veterinarians to ensure the best possible on-track coverage during training and racing. She will often cover on-track training in the morning as well as assist our primary Track Veterinarian, Dr. [Dana] Stead, in order to provide coverage during live racing. Additionally, she will assist with morning examinations for both racing and training.”
Bohannon, who received her DVM from Colorado State University, completed her internship at Pioneer Equine Hospital in Oakdale, and completed her residency in Surgery at UC Davis. Along with a Clinical Fellowship at Oregon State University, Bohannon has practiced in both private and regulatory veterinary medicine at California racetracks.
In further discussing the assignments of Santa Anita's team of vets, Benson said, “Dr. Stead will be returning as our primary on-track veterinarian in the afternoons. He brings years of experience to this important task as well as the pre-race and pre-work examinations. Dr. Tim Grande [representing the CHRB] will also perform pre-race and pre-work exams on behalf of Santa Anita. Dr. Grande has been performing these examinations for many years in Southern California and is an invaluable member of our team. Additionally, we hired Dr. April Chitrakar last year to assist in the mornings and she will be returning. Finally, we have Dr. Debbie Lamparter, who leads the Breeders' Cup veterinary team. She'll be assisting for several days during morning training prior to opening day here to ensure we have extra coverage.”
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